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Chapter 1
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“And you’re sure thiswill, um...” Suzie Stevens looked around her before she continued in a whisper. “Help...my Donald to...you know, get it up?”
The problem was, Suzie’s whisper could be heard all the way over at Alisson High School.
Swallowing the giggle wanting desperately to escape, Lindsay tried to look suitably grave. For Suzie, what happened in her bedroom was a serious business. “If the doctor has declared your husband fit and healthy, this could do the trick. But as I’ve explained, you don’t drink this, you use the contents for massaging. It’s fractionated coconut oil with drops of ylang-ylang, orange, ginger, black pepper, and patchouli essential oils. And this,” she held up the smaller bottle, “you use in your diffuser as I’ve shown you. This is a mixture of tangerine, bergamot, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, cedarwood—”
Behind her, the bell rang and the door opened. Her whole body stiffened, and in that moment she knew exactly who had entered her shop. Blake Davidson. She didn’t have to turn around to know it was him. The tingle down her spine was confirmation enough. Unfortunately, Lilly, her assistant, had already left for the day; otherwise she might have had a warning.
The last time she’d seen him was nearly two months ago at her sister Charlie’s wedding. How he’d ended up being one of Logan’s groomsmen, she still hadn’t been able to figure out. She hadn’t known he and Logan had become friends.
Before the wedding, he’d been gone for about a month and he’d disappeared again immediately afterwards. Since then, she hadn’t heard anything from him. He’d opened a dojo in town earlier this year, and she and Charlie had been to a few of his self-defense classes.
But then they’d received a message he’d be out of town for a while—someone else would be teaching his classes. That was at the point where her own life had begun to fall apart, and neither she nor Charlie had been back for another class.
So she’d noticed he was gone. Well, not really noticed. It wasn’t as if she was thinking about him, but...
“Lindsay?” Suzie asked, and Lindsay realized she’d stopped mid-sentence.
“Uhm...” She looked down at the bottle in her hand and nearly groaned out loud. To be talking about spicing up the bedroom, of all things, when Blake was standing behind her—seriously? Talking a deep breath, she continued, “Vanilla and manuka essential oils.”
Suzie was beaming. “I’ve never heard of any of those, but if they can help my Donald, I’m willing to try it.” Again, she looked furtively around her and when she spotted Blake, she tried her whisper again. “So where do I put it?”
Desperately, Lindsay swallowed the hysterical laughter threatening to escape while she willed the heat creeping up her neck to disappear. Goodness, who still blushed at twenty-six? She lowered her voice. “You can apply it to the inner wrists, the lower back, behind the ears, your neck, and the inner thighs, lower abdomen.”
Grinning, Suzie leaned forward. “The thighs?” Her eyes twinkled. “Well, dear, I like that idea.” Again, her whisper was loud enough to be heard all over town.
At this point Lindsay had to turn around. Without directly looking at Blake, she nodded in his direction. “Hi, Blake. Are you looking for me?” Her heart did its usual happy skip-and-a-jump, as it seemed compelled to do whenever the blasted man was near her.
“Yes.”
Typical Blake reaction. He never used more than one word if he could help it.
“Just a moment.” The silly movements of her heart she would simply ignore, as she’d been doing ever since the night she’d met him. So far, it had worked.
Lindsay walked towards the till, Suzie hot on her heels.
“And I can phone you if this doesn’t work?” Suzie wanted to know.
Lindsay smiled as she rang up the transaction and put the items in a bag. “You’re a beautiful woman, Suzie.” Lindsay smiled. “Be you—that’s all you need to do,” she said encouragingly.
“You really think so?” Suzie asked, patting her hair.
Seeing the uncertainty in the older woman’s eyes, Lindsay took her hand and led her to the mirror against the wall. “Look at those legs and your high cheekbones? Women spend a lot of money trying to get this look, but you already have it.”
Suzie turned to her, smiling. “Really?”
Lindsay smiled and nodded. “Really.” She handed her the package. “Let me know how it goes.” She winked. And with a giggle, Suzie finally left the shop.
It was after five and the sun had already set. It was the beginning of November and although Alisson winters were mild in comparison to the rest of Montana, this time of day temperatures dropped. It was cold and Lindsay wanted to get home.
It was Friday, the end of a long week, and she couldn’t wait to be on her own. She loved her customers, but after a busy few days, she needed some alone time to recharge. Introvert problems, her sister, Charlie, called it.
With a last wave in Suzie’s direction, she turned back to Blake. He was standing near one of the counters, hands in pockets, clearly not feeling too comfortable amidst her oils and creams and Christmas decorations.
For the first time, she really looked at him. Oh, my. He’d grown a beard since she’d last seen him. She’d never liked beards, but on this tall, dark, and ridiculously attractive guy, it only added to his smoldering good looks.
